Tibetan youth jailed for viewing "political content" on the web

March 7, 2010

By Kalsang Rinchen
Phayul
March 6, 2010

Dharamsala, March 6 -- A 25 year old Tibetan
youth named Tashi has been arrested last month in
Sog County, Nagchu Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous
Region, an exile Tibetan with contacts in the region told phayul

Though the exact date and time of his arrest are
not known, Ngawang Tharpa, a Tibetan exile from
the region, said Tashi was arrested for viewing
"political contents" on the Internet and
contacting "outside elements of the Dalai Cliques separatist forces."

Tashi is currently held in a prison in Nagchu Prefecture.

The same source said that the prison authorities
though have allowed parents and relatives of
another Tibetan named Gyalseng sentenced to 3
years imprisonment in December last year to visit
him they regularly torture him. Gyalseng, 26, was
among four Tibetans arrested on October 1, 2009,
the day China celebrated the 60th founding
anniversary of the communist party, for posting
the exile Tibetan leader Dalai Lamas pictures
and speeches on their profiles on the famous Chinese chat site qq.com.

The Chinese government has intensified its
"patriotic reeducation campaign" in areas under
Sog County where it is forcing Tibetans to
undergo sessions that are designed to crush any
form of political dissent, he added.

With days to go for the politically sensitive
anniversary of March 10 uprising of 1959 China
has stepped up its control on several areas of
Tibet including Sog County that was one of the
major points of anti government protests in 2008.